Who killed the Bora caves?

Who killed the Bora caves?

  

The buzz over Bora

Over the last few days there is quite a buzz about promoting even more tourism in and around Bora and Araku. This news is scary. Why? You ask. Well, a visit to Bora Caves illustrates the huge adverse impact of tourism on the area.

Gone in a blink

In the early 1970’s I have visited the caves, long before it was made into a “picnic spot” and spent time admiring its imposing beauty.  Now, this important and sensitive geological formation has been made into an amusement park, with visitors clambering all over the formations and thousands carving their graffiti on the cave walls. 

Guides
The freelance tribal guides do not bother about the vandalism. They  are poorly trained and mope around, completely demoralized by their APTDC bosses. 

Gone in a flash
What took millions of years to form has been destroyed in a mere 10 years ... a blink in geological time.

Formations, what formations?

The Bora Caves has lost almost all its unique geological formations that made the caves an attractive destination in the first place. Several Stalactites and Stalagmites have broken off. The caves were once full of bats and other nocturnal creatures. Now the APTDC, in their wisdom, flooded the interiors with lights and bleaching powder effectively managing to drive away all its natural inhabitants away.

Cave or amusement park?

Over 5 lakh noisy tourists now visit the caves every year, not to admire its true geological beauty and scientific value but as an amusement park. Guides entertain them by finding resemblances in the geological formations to one God or the other or by telling them which movies were shot here. 

Not a word of geology is spoken, no respect for nature is inculcated, and no education is imparted to enrich the visitor.

These “tourists” then eat their tiffins and meals all over the complex littering the place with plastic and waste food.  This brings in the crows, dogs and monkeys who further spread the waste around the area.

Garbage dump

The area leading to the caves have become an ugly garbage dump and, every gedda that once had clean water gushing through it is choked with garbage. The entrance area to the caves looks more like a slum rather than a geological wonder. More eateries, tea shops, and small disorganized restaurants are springing up every day. There is an accumulation of at least 100 lorry loads of garbage in the vicinity of the caves. Tourists urinate everywhere. 

Parking perils

Cars, jeeps and buses fight for the minuscule parking space on road sides. Jeeps carrying 20 passengers, mow through the crowds scattering everyone in their path. All in all a miserable apology for a tourist spot.

APTDC - Guilty as charged

The responsibility for this degradation and vandalism must surely rest with the tourism department, who encouraged tourism for financial gain, but failed to protect the environment of the ecologically sensitive site for future generations.

Any hope?

As a first step the APTDC must be sent packing from all ecologically sensitive sites. Who will take their place? The local panchayats with some help from a central tourism authority perhaps. This needs some thought.

A cess should be levied on tourists visiting Araku to raise funds to clean up Bora, Ananthagiri, Araku and all surrounding areas. Proper parking facilities and parks should be developed. Sound pollution must be stopped. Tourists must be educated on how they should behave in an environmentally sensitive area. There should be zero tolerance for littering. Time should be given for the flora of the area to rejuvenate.

The caves will take a little longer to rejuvenate … 
come back in 2 million years!